A NORTH-EAST company has continued its plans for expansion by buying out the UK’s largest supplier of coal.

Hargreaves Services, of Esh Winning, County Durham, already owned a 50 per cent stake in Coal4Energy.

Now the minerals and support services group has paid £9m to buy the other half of the business from UK Coal.

Coal4Energy was formed as a joint venture between the two companies three years ago and has developed into the largest supplier of coal to the UK’s domestic and industrial markets.

It markets and sells coal produced by UK Coal and Hargreaves Services.

Under the deal it will continue to market UK Coal’s domestic and industrial production for the next five years.

Hargreaves’ finance director, Iain Cockburn, said: “Having watched Coal4Energy develop into a successful entity since its formation three years ago we are very pleased to take sole ownership of the business.

“We were able to identify synergies that we can build upon and we are confident it will prove to be a great acquisition for the group.”

In September, Hargreaves said it was looking at acquisition opportunities across Europe to continue its growth after a record year.

The company saw operating profit more than double to £22.1m, and revenues soar 69 per cent to more than £400m in the year to May 31, along with significant growth in all four of its core divisions.

Coal4Energy has been based at Kellingley Colliery, in West Yorkshire, but following the deal, it will move to Hargreaves’ site in Glasshoughton, near Castleford.

Funding for the acquisition was provided by the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) corporate banking team, in Newcastle.

Marc McDermott, director of corporate banking at RBS, said: “The team at Hargreaves continue to impress us with their strategy and we are confident this latest purchase will be a great success.”